HealthCa.mp/Boston

David Harlow (aka HealthBlawg – blog, twitter) will be at HealthCamp Boston 2012.  As his kids never tire of observing: here he is again, “disorganizing” another “unconference.”

Please tell us a little about your day job.

I’m a health care lawyer, consultant, blogger and speaker.  I work with health care facilities, provider groups and related enterprises and entrepreneurs on a wide variety of regulatory and business matters.  This field is always changing, but the rate of change has definitely picked up in the past few years. Currently, a large portion of my practice is devoted to online businesses dealing in user-generated and patient-focused information and health care – the Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0 businesses of the world – and the privacy and security issues they face.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about my family, music, bicycling . . . and the ever-changing health care landscape and its denizens.  In addition to law, my background is in public health, so I am particularly interested in seeing that the tectonic shifts in the regulatory environment happening these days, and the innovation in the health care space, all serve the social good of improved access to health care and improved health status on both the individual and societal levels.  I am active in social media and work with folks on health care social media issues.  I would like to see social media and mHealth applications break the behavior change barrier and motivate people to improve their own health status more consistently.

What are you doing to “hack” health care?

In my spare time, I am active in the Society for Participatory Medicine and I am a member of The Walking Gallery.  Through both of these endeavors, I’m trying to wake people up to the issues around patient empowerment, patient engagement and patient data.  My day job also touches on a bunch of “hacks” not unrelated to these issues, including payor and provider structures and relationships that can promote patient engagement and improve health outcomes – and I get great satisfaction out doing what I can to help clients’ innovations along.  In addition, by promoting the use of health care social media, I hope to help providers and patients break down silos and communicate more effectively.

If you blog, or would like to blog, about current health care issues, please get in touch: I’m on the advisory board of HealthWorks Collective, a group health care blog that syndicates health care blogs and features original content as well, and we’re looking to add bloggers representing “the world’s best thinkers on health care.” 

Why are you attending HealthCamp Boston?

I want to see and hear what’s happening on health care’s cutting edge and meet the folks who are making it happen, and HealthCamps are often the best forum for doing so.  I really like the concept, and that’s why I wanted to bring HealthCamp back to Boston after a too-long hiatus (our last one here was in 2009).  The HealthCamps I’ve been to have been so energizing, and have provided a lot of food for thought.  My hope is that every “camper” leaving this HealthCamp will have a to-do list inspired by the day.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?

I am focused on privacy and security these days, so it would have to be in that wheelhouse. At Medicine 2.0, I’ll be speaking about the tension between (a) the perceived need for greater privacy and security, heightened standards and enforcement and (b) the value of greater openness in promoting communication that can lead to improved health care and health status in manners both planned and serendipitous.  That’s top-of-mind for me this week.

What kinds of people do you want to meet at HealthCamp?

Old friends … and new people! And with the national and international crowd rolling into town for Medicine 2.0, I think I will meet that goal.

See you at HealthCamp Boston!

Not only will Janice McCallum (blog, twitter) be attending HealthCampBoston, she is helping to organize it!

Hi Janice! Please tell us a little about your day job.

I work as a marketing strategist/consultant to healthcare publishers, health IT companies, and companies that invest in the healthcare sector. I have a varied background in economics, econometric modeling, and digital publishing—along with an MBA in marketing—so you could say I specialize in understanding the value of data in decision making.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about improving access to data for the parties that need information to inform their decisions. But improving the quality of the data that serves as the basis for decisions is just as important as access. From my experience, increasing access to data helps improve quality since having more people use and review data will lead to better “quality control”. Everything I just wrote could apply to any industry, but I’m especially passionate about applying my knowledge and expertise to the healthcare industry to improve the utility of medical research and the quality of information used by clinicians and patients.

What are you doing to “hack” health care?

In addition to paid consulting work, I devote a great deal of time to disseminating information via social media (as well as some traditional publishing outlets). I blog at www.healthcontentadvisors.com/blog, distribute an email newsletter, comment on other sites, and use Twitter (and Google+ and LinkedIn to a lesser extent) to share content that I consider valuable to my followers. I always “consider the source” before I share information and try to keep the conversation focused on how to make things better.

Why are you attending HealthCamp Boston?

I attended the first HealthCamp Boston in 2009 and had a fantastic experience. I love the unconference format where all attendees contribute to the conversation. This will be my fourth HealthCamp and I look forward to sharing viewpoints with a diverse group of people who are all passionate about improving healthcare outcomes and transforming unsustainable healthcare delivery models into systems that offer benefits to a wider range of people.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?

It should be clear by now that I’m a data geek. Health data are in the spotlight like never before. My top choice for a session would have to center around the hot topic of big data in healthcare and what “big data” could deliver to clinicians and patients.

What kinds of people do you want to meet at HealthCamp?

I’m particularly excited that HealthCampBoston is attracting a global audience this year in large part due to the fact that it immediately precedes Medicine 2.0. I hope to discover shared interests among a diverse group with experience with different models of healthcare delivery.

…and he is helping to organize it, too! If you’re looking for Dave online, you can find him on twitter (@levydr) or on LinkedIn.

Hi, Dave! Please tell us a little about your day job.

I’m a PR guy at the great SHIFT Communications, and my focus is developing our healthcare efforts so that we can represent the most innovative technologies that are going to make a real impact in improving health. We know it takes authenticity to be a part of the healthcare community, so we track and participate in trends and news the best we can by maintaining HealthyComms.com – and making sure we’re using technologies so we know about what we’re talking.

What are you passionate about?

I’ve always loved technology; whatever’s new, whatever’s cool. I got the label “early adopter.” That’s fine. At some point in the last years working with health companies, I learned that there is more to the story than just gaining people who use your app, product, service or tool. It’s about making an actual impact on the healthcare system, or a patient population, or a disease, or just a community. Once I saw that, I knew this is what fired me up, and I’m now on this quest of curiosity to find the grail-like technology that bridges the gap between those who understand how technology can help and those who aren’t your traditional early adopters but who could truly benefit.

What are you doing to “hack” health care?

If I could build, I would; until then, I’ll learn from those who know what needs to be done to create applications that are passive enough to be easy to use, but useful enough to provide the utility to any person.

Why are you attending HealthCamp Boston?

The Boston health tech community is one of the reasons I’m where I am. I want to see what the smartest people in this town have to say.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?

I could compare the suffering of Red Sox fans to patient communities, but what I’d be interested in a discussion on is the difference between the tech that is being created to help patients or just people monitor a condition and how to get it in the hands of the people who could use it the most.

What kinds of people do you want to meet at HealthCamp?

Just the other people in Boston who are willing to show off what makes this one of the best places to be when it comes to innovating in health.